Mercury's Gord Fraser took the overall as Mercury put their stamp on this year's Tour de 'Toona. In the final rain-soaked, technical criterium, Fraser won enough time bonus to overtake previous leader, Davidenko, then his teammates controlled and put away the rest as the Mercury boys took the top 3 places on the day.

This week's short course was an intense loop around the ski chalet. The 1km loop was all double track with a pavement section to speed things up as we passed by the Shimano rig. The start/finish banner was near the top of the bumpy, gradual climb. There was only one tricky corner on the course and it was at the bottom of the all-out descent, making a 90 degree turn through loose sand onto pavement. I heard there were a few critical crashes there...

The Women

Before the race, Mary (Grigson) and I took advantage of our long time road/mountain bike pro teammate, Andy for some short course strategy. All psyched up, we lined up at 3:50 for our usual 4pm start. All the usual faces were there, but there were a few newer faces in the field. One notable one was Suzy Pryde (Saturn) from New Zealand who races extensively (and quite well!!) on the road. This was a crit, and she was definitely going to be a factor, even though her start position was close to the back of the 50 starters. The Gary Fisher/Saab plan today was to hold in the main group for the first 10 minutes, or so, then attack the field and go together. Well, this went according to plan for only 2 laps then Lesley Tomlinson (RLX Polo Sport) launched an aggressive attack, followed by Alla Epifanova (Volvo Cannondale).

Knowing how strong Alla is, I quickly deducted that our "plan" was out and I was to get on Alla's wheel. We became the "Alla - Chrissy Train" because after just two laps we had a good 20 seconds over the chase group of Suzy, Jimena Florit (RLX Polo Sport) and Mary. In the following laps, Mary got a huge cramp and pulled out, Jimena dropped Suzy and "the train" gained another 10 sec. Leading into the final 3 laps I was trying to work out my plan of attack in order to win the race. I knew when I sprinted would be critical because Alla was still quite strong and powerful.

With 1 1/2 laps to go, Alla pulled through and this gave me the perfect opportunity to sit on her wheel and gain enough rest to sprint by her at the 50 meter to go mark. And this is exactly what I did, Alla was caught a little off guard and shifted to late to respond. It was a good feeling to be met by Jen and Kevin at the finish line, both with bigger smiles than mine!

Men's Race(courtesy Andy Bishop - Gary Fisher-Saab)

Great morale abounded in our camp. We thoroughly enjoyed the last few days in the beautiful venue of Crystal Mountain and looked forward to another exciting race in the NORBA Short Track Cross Country. The race started out with a bang with Gary Fisher/Saab racer Ryder Hesjesdal setting the blistering pace for the first lap. Not to be left out of the fun, I attacked on the next lap with the hope of taking off some pressure from my two teammates - plus this gave home viewers the chance to experience heart-pumping race leadership via the Outdoor Life Network helmet camera and recorder mounted to my back, along with seeing the wildly enthusiastic fans packed around the course!

Due to the straightforward and non-technical nature of the course, the racing became more tactical as team strategies became vitally important. A group of ten separated from the field, which included Gary Fisher/Saab riders Hesjedal and Pavel Tcherkassov. I was in the next group of six. Kona rider Geoff Kabush, who yesterday suffered an untimely flat tire while in the race lead, looked possessed in an attempt to avenge that misfortune. He attacked a number of times but was always matched by the strength of our riders and two Haro riders Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard. Race lead changed a number of times and it became clear that the race would come down to a sprint between these lead riders.

McGrath led with a half-lap to go (on a pavement section before heading uphill through an S-turn finish) with Ryder smartly tucked in the second position, Kabush in third, and Pavel in fourth. Ryder blasted by on the outside (at a place that we talked about before the race started) and he continued on to proudly win his first NORBA STXC! McGrath solidly took second and Pavel took the third spot after narrowly missing the crash of Kabush, who moved back to fifth when Sheppard passed him too.

It was extremely exciting to see Ryder take his first victory before I retire at the end of this season. Over the last few months, he has been frustratingly close to achieving this milestone and I fully expect that there will be many more of these victories in the future!! Congratulations.

Pavel's third place once again vaulted him into the lead of the Chevy Trucks STXC before the season-ending finale at Mammoth, CA in just one month's time!! Basically, it will be an epic battle between the two Fisher/Saab riders Hesjedal and Tcherkassov and the two Haro riders McGrath and Sheppard, as only a few points separate the four of them. Make sure you tune in to the upcoming excitement of the last event at Mammoth Lakes, CA!

Even More Cereal News

Johnny Holman just reported that Alison Sydor is on boxes of Oatmeal Almond Crisp, as well as Multi-grain Cheerios.

Grand Boucle Feminine

Stage 2 - Le Cannet to Le Beausset 160 km

Mirjam Melchers of the Dutch National Team solidified her lead by finishing in a 3 rider break, 2 minutes up on the field.

34 Karen Kurreck (USA) GS Edil Savino 3:1237 Deirdre Demet (USA) United States National Team 3:1538 Kimberly Smith (USA) United States National Team s.t.51 Mari Holden (USA) United States National Team 3:2864 Lara Ruthven (USA) United States National Team 4:2473 Kerry Hellmuth (USA) Master Team Carpe Diem 4:3979 Clara Hughes (Can) Canada-Spain 5.1483 Alison Dunlap (USA) United States National Team 5:4190 Nicole Freedman (USA) United States National Team 20.34100 Jennifer Eyerman (USA) United States National Team 24:31106 Darnelle Moore (Can) Canada-Spain 25:51109 Melanie Claude (Can) Canada-Spain 56:01